


Safe - Dan Howell x Reader

by mollieblack



Category: Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF)
Genre: Angst, Attempted Kidnapping, Cute, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Smut, Friends to Lovers, Getting Together, Hurt Dan Howell, Hurt Phil Lester, Hurt/Comfort, Mild Smut, Reality, Romance, Slow Build, Slow Burn, Strangers to Lovers, YouTube
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-13
Updated: 2017-09-09
Packaged: 2018-10-31 05:54:47
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 11,868
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10893087
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mollieblack/pseuds/mollieblack
Summary: You, an aspiring YouTuber, have been invited to Summer in the City. It's all going fine, until you stumble upon two of your biggest inspirations being kidnapped. Somehow, you manage to save them, and end up forming a bond that could never be broken.





	1. Chapter 1

***Author's Note - Story told in first person, your POV, unless indicated otherwise. y/n = your name, y/o/n = your online name, y/l/n = your last name.

Mini background: You're an aspiring YouTuber with a small channel who somehow got accepted to a panel at Summer In the City, and flew out from the USA to attend the convention. The story starts the second day of the convention. Your panel was on the first day, and only a few people had known you, and now you feel as if you're attending more as a fan. One more note, I've never been to a convention, so if any of this is incorrect, I'm sorry.

One last note!!! I'm sorry to anyone who uses he/him/they/them/anything other than feminine pronouns. Feminine pronouns will be used for the reader throughout this story, I'm sorry if that doesn't apply to you.***

 

The sun was setting. It had been a long day of meeting some of YouTube's finest, each time not being able to entirely hold back the butterflies that fluttered in my stomach while meeting some of these big names, hoping against hope that they'd recognize me, but none had. Even so, it had been a good day, and now I was strolling around outside, enjoying the warm night air. The convention had closed for the night, the fans were gone, and now there were just a few people out vlogging, but most had headed back to their hotel rooms. I would probably head back to my own soon as well. Tomorrow was the last day of Summer in the City, and I still had quite a few people I was hoping to meet. I'd enjoy the fresh air for another five or so minutes, and then head back inside.

I made my way to a bench next to a hedge, and just looked out. In front of me was a parking lot, but it was empty, save a van parked in the 'buses only' section right along the sidewalk. Despite the lot, the view behind it was beautiful, lots of trees under a gorgeous sunset. I relaxed, smiling softly, when I heard shuffling and harsh whispering. I turned to my left, and saw four people emerge from around a building. Immediately, I shrunk towards the bush, not wanting to be seen. It was a good thing I nearly always wore black, and in the shadows they most likely wouldn't notice me.

There was a good reason I didn't want to be seen, and it wasn't just because I was socially awkward. Two of the men had sacks over their heads, their wrists were tied, and they were being shoved forward by the other two. This pair wore ski masks covering their faces, and each had a gun poking into the back of the man they were leading. Slowly, quietly, I padded up behind them. The two with bags over their heads weren't speaking, but the other two were arguing, and didn't notice me coming up behind them. Good thing I was small. I didn't know what I was doing, these were two full grown men, what could I do?

I guess some of the self defense class I took ages ago came in handy, when I got close my body took over, and I wasn't making decisions. My leg shot up and kicked the gun out of one of the man's hands, and in some incredible feat, I caught it on its way to the ground. In a split second, I had hit the man over the head with the butt of the gun, and then had the barrel of it planted between the shoulder blades of the other masked man.

"Drop your weapon, slide it away from you, get on your knees, and put your hands up." How was my voice so clear? How did I even know to say these things? In my mind, I was in an utter state of panic, terrified, not knowing at all what to do, but somehow my voice rang out, commanding and powerful. The man did as I said, and once again, I slammed the butt of the gun into his head, knocking him out cold.

Immediately, once the danger was gone, my strange confident persona left me, and I put the gun down gingerly, terrified of the object. Whipping out my phone, I dialed 911, and only right before pressing the call button realized my mistake, and dialed 999 instead. I almost forgot I wasn't in America. I briefly explained to them that there was an attempted kidnapping, told them the license plate on the van they had been leading the other men to, and that the assailants were unconscious. They told me someone was on their way, and I turned my attention to the two men under the bags on their heads. Their knees were shaking, and I could tell they had no idea what was going on, but they were scared.

"Hey... hey it's okay. Will you kneel down for me so I can get these things off your heads?" I asked, trying to keep my voice as calm and soothing as I could. They both towered over me, and I knew I couldn't nearly get the bags off their heads without them kneeling down. Both got onto their knees, still shaking. They almost seemed more scared now, and I wondered if they thought I was part of the group that had kidnapped them. The shorter one was shaking much worse than the other, so I decided to get him untied first. I reached up, untying the twine knotted around the slightly shorter one's neck, which allowed the bag to come off easily. When the bag was removed, my breath got caught in my throat.

"Phil?" I asked, shocked. Kneeling on the ground in front of me, tears running down his blotchy red face, a gag tightly tied around his head, cutting into the corners of his mouth, Phil Lester stared up at me. "Oh god... let's get this thing off of you. Hey, you're okay now. See those guys? I took care of them, they won't be hurting you anymore, okay?" After a bit of tugging, I got the gag undone, and Phil took in a deep breath, the corners of his mouth bleeding slightly. I walked behind him, and untied the rope tying his wrists together, and immediately went to the first man lying unconscious on the ground, tying his wrists with the same rope. This completed, I turned to the second man under the bag. If the first was Phil, then this must be...

Undoing the knot and slipping the bag off of his head, I saw that I had been correct in my guess. Dan Howell was slumped in front of me. While Phil had been shaking and crying, wide eyed, Dan was near the opposite. His eyes were halfway shut, and one was surrounded by puffy purple skin. He had a gash on his forehead that was bleeding profusely, and he swayed slightly. Immediately, I jumped into action, holding him upright as I undid his gag, then his wrists. Once I was fairly sure he'd be able to keep himself upright, I went back to the unconscious men, tying them up and moving the guns far away from them.

I returned to Dan and Phil, and helped them both to their feet. Neither said a word, Phil trembling, and Dan getting dangerously close to losing consciousness. Thank god my building was only about twenty feet away. I led them to my hotel building, and somehow got them up the elevator, into my room, and onto the bed without being noticed by anyone. I found the first aid kit the hotel kept stocked in one of the drawers of the TV stand, and returned to the two shaken boys. After about an hour of first aid, I was fairly certain I had done all I could for them. Phil only had minor cuts on his mouth, a few bruises, and a small cut on his upper arm. Dan on the other hand had a black eye, a cut on his forehead, cut corners of his mouth from the gag, and a deep slash across his chest. I didn't know how they attained these injuries or why any of this was happening, I was just glad they were safe.


	2. Chapter Two

Dan had slipped into unconsciousness almost the minute I had gotten him into the bed, but Phil was still sitting there, arms wrapped around his knees, rocking back and forth slightly and shaking. He still hadn't said a word. I didn't know what to do. Keeping an eye on him, I made my way to the sink, and filled a glass of water, returning to Phil's side of the bed, and sitting halfway on the edge of it, handing him the water. For the first time, he actually looked me in the eye and seemed to notice me. Slowly, shakily, he took the glass from my hand and raised it to his lips, taking a small sip.

"Thank you." I heard the tiniest squeak escape his lips.

"Of course. I am so, _so_ sorry. I don't know what happened, but... I'm sorry. I'm right here though, and you look exhausted. Why don't you get some sleep, okay? I'll be here if you wake up and need anything." Slowly, Phil nodded, and made his way under the duvet, falling asleep almost the instant his head hit the pillow.

The night passed slowly, I drank loads of coffee to stay awake through the night, and for good reason. Each of the men woke up a few times throughout the night, either terrified in a cold sweat from a nightmare, parched, or my personal least favorite, lightly crying. The other two were sudden, and alerted me immediately to their change in consciousness, but a few times throughout the night, I would very slowly become aware of a sound, and make my way over to them, before realizing that they were staring into the distance, tears streaming down their faces, lightly sobbing.

Each time, I walked over and sat with the crying man, holding his hand and assuring him that everything was going to be alright, and that he was safe now. I checked on their bandages, and changed them when necessary. Eventually, I saw the sun began rising from the window, and realized I had made it. I had made it through the night, and all of a sudden everything both felt more manageable, and more real. I had Dan and Phil in my bed. Not in _that_ way, obviously. I had these two men who I had idolized, and now I was the one who had saved them. I was the one to take care of them, and I felt a huge sense of responsibility.

Around 7:15, Phil awoke, this time normally.

"He... hello?" His voice was raspy, but not as shaky as it had been the night before.

"Yes? I'm right here, don't worry." I said, making my way to his side of the bed.

"What's your name?" Phil asked, looking up at me.

"I'm (y/n)."

"Huh... you look familiar. Thank you. For... everything."

"You're welcome. How are you feeling?"

"I've been better." Phil laughed, dryly. "But I would be a lot worse if it weren't for you. I'm feeling okay... Dan got the brunt of the beatings. I'm just... still in shock I guess you could say. But hey... I'm feeling alright now, and you stayed up all night. Why don't you get some rest? I'll wake you up if we need anything." I almost protested, but then realized just how heavy my eyelids had become. I had spent the entire previous day running around a huge convention, and now I had pulled an all nighter. I nodded, and made my way to the plush recliner, tilting it back all the way, and the minute my head rested on the soft leather, my entire world faded to black.

I woke up to the smell of bacon and syrup, blinking my eyes open to see Phil accepting a large tray of food from Room Service. "Hey." My voice was rough from sleep, as I sat up and stretched.

"Good morning, y/n. How'd you sleep?" Phil asked, traveling to the chair at the desk next to me, placing the food on the corner of the desk so we could both reach. He began eating, careful so as not to reopen the cuts on the sides of his mouth. I grabbed a plate of scrambled eggs, bacon, and two fluffy pancakes, answering his question before tucking in to the steaming meal.

"I slept pretty well, thank you." There was a slightly weird air to the room. Here we were, complete strangers, yet I had just potentially saved their lives the night before. That being the case, we still knew nothing about each other, and I knew nothing about how they had gotten in the situation they were in the night previous. All of these thoughts rushed through my head, before being interrupted by a loud ringing. Phil's eyes went wide, and he took out his phone, seeing the time and caller, and raising the phone to his ear.

"Hey Denise. I'm so sorry I didn't get in touch with you sooner... Dan and I..." he looked over to the sleeping man and then to me. "Something happened last night. I don't want anything to get out to the public, but we won't be attending any more events during this convention, I'm sorry. Yeah. Yeah. No, I know. I'll explain it to you in person when I get the chance. Yes, we're okay. Or we will be. Okay, thanks Denise, sorry to spring all of this on you." he hung up. "Sorry, that was our manager."

"It's okay. How are you feeling?" I asked, impressed at his eloquence. This was the same man who hadn't been able to speak for hours the night previous.

"I'm doing okay. I'm just... really happy you were there." He said, looking at me with a slightly confused expression, and then suddenly it shifted to one of understanding. "Oh! I know where I know you from!"

"Huh?" I said, eyebrows raising in surprise.

"You're (y/y/n)! Dan found your videos about a month ago, and totally went on a binge. He's shown me quite a few of them, I can't believe it took me this long to recognize you!" This entire convention no one knew who I was, and now I was being told that _The_ Dan and Phil watched my videos? My jaw dropped slightly, and I quickly closed it, realiizing it was full of slightly chewed eggs.

"Yeah, that's me!" I said nervously with a slight chuckle. "I know who you guys are, obviously. You're both huge parts of why I made my own channel." Phil's eyes widened, and a small smile formed on his face.

"Really? That's amazing!"

"Yeah..." we sat there, eating for a few more moments, and then the question just burst out of me. It had been nagging at the back of my mind since I found them, and Phil seemed coherent enough to answer.

"Phil... what happened yesterday?" His eyes went slightly dark, and he looked down at his plate.

"Well... did you see the video I made about Alex about two weeks ago?" Phil asked. Of course I had. Who in the YouTube community hadn't seen the adorable proposal video Phil made of him asking his boyfriend to marry him? Of course, many of Dan and Phil's more diehard phangirls had been angry that it wasn't Dan who Phil was proposing to, but anyone else could see the love the two had for eachother, and several people supported them. Unfortunately since then, they had been flooded with a good amount of hate in the comments. That was the one downside to YouTube... fans got way too invested in the lives of the creators. I nodded in response to Phil's question.

"Well... ever since then we've been getting threats. Death threats. We almost didn't come here because of it, but Dan and Denise both agreed that if we cancelled, everyone would know why, and it'd just put more of a target on our backs. We had to just ignore the threats, and not feed into them. It was all going alright, until we decided to go out last night and get some coffee, and got jumped from two men in the bushes. They tackled me down right away, but Dan tried to put up a bit more of a fight, and they pulled out knives on us. He got pretty cut up, and then they tied us up and pulled out the guns, and they were saying awful things. Things about what they were gonna do to us before they killed us, and film it all to show the world, and..." Phil's voice began getting shaky at the end of his story, and I stopped him, letting him know he didn't have to relive any of that.

"Hey..." I said comfortingly, walking over and putting my hand on his shoulder. "I am so sorry. It's going to be okay, those guys were assholes, anyone with half a brain can see how sweet you and Alex are together. Congratulations, by the way."

Phil laughed sickly at this, looking almost disgusted. "Well... I don't know if that word even applies anymore. He hasn't spoken to me since the video was uploaded. He said it was okay, and I warned him how the fans might react, but I think he may be getting threats too, and now all I hear from him is the occasional facebook post. At least he's not dead... but I think that chapter of my life may be over. I just hate that he lives in America. I can't exactly romantically run to his house with flowers, begging for his forgiveness, now can I?" He looked up at me, laughing dejectedly. "It's okay, I guess. I suppose now we can tell the world it was a prank, and maybe they'll calm down about Dan and I." A few tears rolled down his cheek, and I pulled him into a hug which he returned immediately, sobbing into my shoulder. "Thank you so much, (y/n)." I nodded in response. No words needed to be said, and we sat that way, me rubbing his back, until he stopped crying.

"Hey, why don't you get some rest, okay?" I suggested, and he nodded, eyes puffy and nose red, making his way to his side of the bed, curling up in the covers, and falling asleep. I looked over at the food. It'd be cold soon... I could at least try to see if Dan wanted any? I walked over to the brunette's side, checking to make sure his bandages hadn't bled through. They were wrapped tightly, and not a speck of red shone through. That's a good sign.

"Hey, Dan? There's some food here if you want any." I cooed quietly, running my hand up and down his arm softly to try to wake him up. His eyes fluttered open, looking up at me in wonder.

"Are you an angel?" His voice sounded awful. It was a barely audible croak, and I immediately got him some water, coaxing it into him. 

"No" I said, laughing softly. "I'm just someone who happened to be in the right place." A single tear rolled down and out of his left eye. "Hey, hey hey. Don't cry." I said, brushing the tear away. "Do you want some breakfast?" He nodded, pushing himself into a sitting position with my assistance, wincing at the pain in his chest. I brought over a plate of food, and he took a bite of eggs, gingerly raising them to his scabbed mouth. I could feel his eyes on me throughout all of this, and after swallowing the eggs, he spoke.

"(y/n)?"

"Yes, it's me." I said, smiling the tiniest bit at the thought that Dan Howell knew _my_ name.

"Thank you."

"Of course. I'm going to take care of you, everything's going to be alright. Phil talked to Denise, and you don't have to worry about talking to any more fans. We're going to get you back to your apartment, and everything will be okay." He nodded at my words, drifting back into sleep. I gingerly took the plate of food from him, returning it to the desk. I realized I did need to do something. Once the fans left tonight, we were going to have to leave and get them back to their house.

I looked at Phil's phone on the desk for a moment, before deciding that it wasn't an invasion of his privacy. I needed the phone number. I picked up his phone. Luckily he didn't have a lock on it, and I went through his contacts until I found Denise. Dialing the number, I waited, until a woman answered.

"Phil, is everything alright?"

"Hi, Denise. Sorry, this isn't Phil, this is (y/n)."

"Why are you using his phone? Is everything alright, are the boys safe?" Denise sounded panicked. She had good reason, as well. She had no idea what had happened to them.

"Yes, they're alright, I've been taking care of them. But we're going to need to get them back to their apartment tonight. You're their manager, right?"

"Yes."

"Do you think that you could maybe find some guards to help get us out of this building and to a taxi after the crowds leave tonight? After that we should be fine." I thought for a moment. This woman was their manager, they'd have to tell her what happened, and surely they wouldn't mind me explaining to ease her mind. "They were attacked last night, and there was an attempted kidnapping. I was nearby and stopped it, and have been taking care of them in my room since then." Denise let out a shaky breath loud enough to be picked up by the phone.

"Thank you. And thank you for telling me. The guards will get there at 7pm, and there'll be a car ready to bring you back. We'll get their stuff from their room back to the apartment, so you don't have to worry about that."

"Thank you so much." She hung up. I looked back at the two boys and shook my head. How could anyone be so awful? Why would anyone attack them? I shook my head in disgust, and packed up my things. I returned to my chair, waiting until the guards would show at seven. 


	3. Chapter Three

***Author's note: Set at Dan and Phil's old flat (before moving in 2017)***

We made our way to Dan and Phil's flat without trouble. I was able to wake them up, getting them out to the car with the help of the bodyguards when Dan began getting lightheaded. We drove through town, and the driver knew exactly where to go. Somehow we were able to get up the stairs, and after reassuring the guards that we would be fine from here, we were left alone. I insisted that they stay in the same room so I could keep an eye on both of them for the first night, and they agreed without much argument. They were both exhausted.

I put them to bed in Phil's room, and took my laptop out of my suitcase. I scrolled through YouTube, checking the latest counts on my videos, and then logging onto Twitter, deciding I should let my followers know I'd be gone for a few days. I ended up settling on, 'Hey guys, just wanted to check in and let you all know that I'm fine, but I probably won't be posting for a few days. See you soon! :)'. I finished typing the message out with five characters left. Perfect. I sat there scrolling through some of my favorite YouTuber's new videos for a while, until I heard something behind me. 

I turned towards the bed, to see Phil's face buried in a pillow, his body shaking back and forth. Muffled sobs came from the pillow, and I rushed over to his side of the bed.

"Hey, are you alright? What hurts?" I asked, concern clear in my voice.

"No I'm not alright. My fiancé fucking left me. He won't answer my texts or calls, I literally could have died the other day and he wouldn't even know. He probably doesn't even fucking care." Phil's eyes were puffy and red, and he wasn't trying to hide the sobs that were racking his body anymore. They filled the room, and I saw Dan stir, rolling over to look at Phil. Immediately his expression shifted from confusion to concern as he saw his best friend puffy eyed with tears rolling down his cheeks. 

"You alright mate?"

"Why does everyone keep asking me that? NO IM NOT FUCKING ALRIGHT I ALMOST DIED AND THE MAN I LOVE WON'T ANSWER ME AND I'M NOT FUCKING ALRIGHT OKAY?" Phil screamed the second half of his sentence, and Dan and I watched in shock as Phil pulled his pillow up to his face, knees at his chest, and screamed into the soft pillow. I hadn't ever heard Phil swear in a video, and judging by the look on Dan's face, it wasn't a common occurrence. Honestly it was terrifying and heartbreaking at the same time. Dan and I both made our way to Phil's sides, rubbing his shoulders and back, helping him through the tears. 

"It's alright, Phil, it'll be alright. He doesn't deserve you, he never did." Dan tried to comfort him, concern evident in his eyes. He looked over at me, and I could see that it was all his brain could handle to try to be there for Phil. His gaze was shaky, and his forehead slick with sweat. I noticed that blood was slowly starting to seep through the bandage, and got up, giving Phil one last rub on the shoulder. I grabbed the first aid kit from my suitcase, and reapplied Dan's bandage on his head, then lifted up his shirt to check the bandage on his chest. Shit. That one was bleeding through as well.

"Alright Dan, can you do me a favor? I need you to take off your shirt so I can change your bandage, okay? Can you do that for me?" Dan nodded, as if in a stupor, eyes half glazed as he lifted the shirt over his head. I took his old bandage off, and quickly reapplied the new one to the open wound. "Alright, there we go, you can put it back now." Dan nodded, clearly beyond the point of consciousness. He continued sleepily nodding, until he was snoring. I sighed, lifting up the blue and green checkered duvet over his shoulders, and brushing his curls out of the way of the bandage wrapped around his head. At this point, I realized Phil's sobs had turned into whimpers, and I returned to his side. 

"Hey, look. I don't know this Alex guy other than that video you posted, but listen to me. Any man who just up and leaves you without a word isn't worth your tears, okay? And you have people who care about you. You have Dan, and you have me too. I'm here, and I'm not leaving until you two kick me out, okay?" I reassured him with a little laugh at the end. "Everything's gonna be okay. I know it's hard. But you'll make it through this." Phil looked up, smiling gratefully, and pulled me into a hug.

"Thank you, (y/n). You're a good friend."

"I try my best." I responded. "Now try and get some rest, okay? I think by tomorrow you should be all healed up!" He nodded, laying back down, and I returned to the chair. 

I sat there, scrolling for a while, before I noticed my eyes drooping. I was so tired, but there was no way I was going to be able to sleep on this chair, and the floor was hard and covered in suitcases and props for videos. No. I'd have to stay awake, and that'd be fine. I could do it. After another hour, it was becoming near impossible to keep my eyes open. They felt as if they each weighed a ton. I looked up slowly at the bed. Would they be okay if I went to the couch? No. I couldn't leave the room, what if one of them needed me? Just then, I noticed Dan's eyes flicker open, and they landed on me. This time they weren't glazed over. He seemed fully conscious for the first time since we met.

He looked at me, studying me for a moment. 

"You look tired. Come lay down." he invited, scooting backwards a bit to make room for me on the bed.

"Are you sure?" I asked, hesitant, but also yearning. The bed looked so soft and inviting and warm... 

"Of course I'm sure. Come here." He patted the bed in front of him, and that was all the invitation I needed. I climbed into the bed, and laid down, sharing the pillow with Dan. There were two very large men in this bed, and not all that much room. The mattress was curving slightly, dipping down in the middle, and I was finding it hard to not accidentally roll into Dan, extremely aware of the fact that he wasn't wearing a shirt. Using my last bit of consciousness to keep myself on the edge of the bed. I laid down facing in towards Dan, and he lifted the duvet up and over my shoulder. He looked at me for a while, examining my face, before smiling and shutting his eyes.

"I'm really glad we met." he said, smiling with his eyes closed.

"Well yeah, if we hadn't you'd be dead." was my retort.

"Exactly!" He grinned, and within minutes we were both sound asleep.


	4. Chapter Four

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ***Author's Note: Yes I promise this is Dan x Reader, but I hate how in most of DanxReader fics they just like. Let Phil fall by the wayside, so I am going to pay a good amount of attention to forming a strong friendship between 'you' and Phil. Trust me the romance with Dan will evolve :) ***

I awoke slowly to a tap on my shoulder and a whispered, 'Hey, guys, I made breakfast and it's gonna get cold." Blinking awake slowly, I found myself nose to nose with Dan. His eyes were shut, and his face was soft, lips slightly parted in relaxed sleep. Not only was my face about an inch from his, I felt his arms wrapped around me, having pulled me towards him in the night. My hands were flat on his chest, and I could feel his heartbeat, slow and steady as he slept. One of my legs was laced through his. I turned my head quickly, as the voice had come from the behind me, to see Phil leaned over the bed, a bit red in the face, but also with an amused and knowing expression.

"Looks like you've become the latest victim to Dan's sleep habits. I made some pancakes if you want any." he whispered, and began leaving the room.

"I'll be right there." I whispered back, and started to slowly extract myself from Dan, trying not to wake him. He was still pretty beat up, and I didn't want to take away any time that he could spend resting. I was able to move his arms from around me, placing them on the pillow in front of him, backing slowly off the bed, and it wasn't until I tried to remove my leg from between his that he began shifting. 

"Nooo don't leave me..." he whined, still half asleep. He reached out, wrapping his arms around me, and pulling me back down next to him, with my face nuzzled in his shoulder. Well. If you had asked me a week ago where I thought I'd be after Summer in the City, I would have thought I'd be on a flight back to America. Instead, I had cancelled my flight, planning on rebooking after Dan and Phil seemed healthy enough to take care of themselves, and now here I was, laying in Phil's bed with Dan wrapped around me like a koala. 

For a few minutes I just sat there, and then slowly reached my arm up to shake Dan's shoulder a bit.

"Hey, Dan, Phil made pancakes, and they're gonna get cold soon, so I'm going to head into the kitchen. You can stay and rest, though."

"Five more minutes?" He pleaded, eyes still shut. I couldn't quite tell how awake he was, and shook his shoulder just a bit harder. Slowly, Dan's eyes fluttered open, and I was reminded of just how close our faces were. I could feel his breath on my forehead, and looked up into his eyes.

Immediately, I watched as his face flushed a rosy color, and he awkwardly pushed away from me. 

"Um... yeah you said something about pancakes? Yeah uh I'll meet you out there." He pulled his legs back, breaking our last bit of contact, and I got off the bed, making my way to the kitchen, shaking my head at how awkward that situation had been. Even so, I was feeling awake now, and my heart was beating quickly. 

Entering the kitchen, I saw Phil's eyes on me. I looked up at him indignantly, and was met with a small chuckle. 

"He has a really bad habit of cuddling people against their will in his sleep. I've been on the receiving end more than once, and now I do everything in my power not to have to share a bed with him." Phil laughed a bit, then realized what he had just given away. "If you _ever_ say anything to our fans..." Phil threatened, and I burst out laughing. There was just something so innocent about Phil that this attempt at a threat was far more adorable than worrying.

He began laughing too, and handed me a plate stacked with three pancakes smothered in butter and syrup. I began taking it to the couch, when he stopped me, grabbing two slices of bacon from a pan and tossing them onto the edge of my plate. 

"There! Now you can eat! Any requests for morning TV?" I smiled. He seemed recovered, energetic and bouncy. He also seemed in a much better mood than last night, thoughts of Alex wiped from his brain by the scent of syrup and bacon.

"I don't care too much... I have kind of been wanting to re-watch The Office lately..." Phil's eyes lit up, and he started Season One Episode One of The Office as we sunk into the couch, tucking into our pancakes. Halfway through the episode, Dan came stumbling out of the bedroom, rubbing his eyes sleepily. His hair was curly and ruffled, and I couldn't help but think how adorable he looked with messy hair. I almost said something about how he should have embraced his hobbit hair long ago, as it suited him very well, but then I remembered our situation earlier this morning, and decided against it.

Dan stumbled into the kitchen groggily, grabbing a few pancakes and coming back to meet us on the couch.

"Office? Ooh and the early days, good." Dan said, placing his plate on the coffee table. I watched as he reached up and took his bandage off, and almost began to protest before I saw that it had scabbed over. 

"Does it look okay? Do you think I can stop wearing these stupid bandages?" He asked, lightly brushing his fingers over his forehead to try to gauge how bad it was.

"I'd say keep them on for one more day, you should be fine to take them off tomorrow." I decided, and Phil nodded in agreement. I got the first aid kit and helped Dan clear off the dried blood that was matted to his forehead, being careful not to re-open the wound, and then applied a fresh bandage, doing the same with the wrapping around his chest. 

"Thank you so much, (y/n). How long are you staying here?" Dan asked as I re-bandaged him.

"Until you guys kick me out, I guess. I have nothing in particular to go back to, so long as you're okay with me filming videos here I can stay as long as you need me. But if you want me out of your hair..."

"No! No, not at all." Dan interjected. 

"Yeah, you can stay as long as you like, (y/n)." Phil added. "And of course you can film here. Though the fans will definitely recognize the location so we'll have to explain a bit. I was also thinking we could do some collabs, if you would want..." 

"Are you kidding me? Like I'm going to turn down a collab with the _Dan and Phil_?" I laughed. "Of course, I would love to. Let's wait until Dan's more healed, though." They both nodded, agreeing. 

We spent the day lazily watching TV and playing a few board games. Dan annihilated Phil and I at Monopoly, somehow creating the world's shortest-ever Monopoly game at just under an hour. When the evening rolled around, Phil helped me set up the sofa bed in the room they use for gaming videos, and we changed Dan's bandages one more time. 

I went to the bathroom to brush my teeth after I'd settled into the room, and heard soft crying coming from Phil's room. Softly, I knocked on Phil's door, and not hearing a response, opened the door slowly. Phil was sitting on his bed looking through pictures of him and Alex on his phone. 

"Phil..." I said softly. 

"It's over." He responded flatly.

"What do you mean it's over?"

Phil held up his phone in response, flicking to a facebook page. Alex had changed his profile picture, and it was now a picture of him and a girl standing on the edge of a waterfall, kissing. I noticed that it also looked as if he had unfriended Phil.

"He posted the same picture on facebook, instagram, and a video on snapchat... Unfollowed me on everything. It's over." I sat there for a moment, unsure of exactly how to help.

"What do you need?" I asked after a while, figuring that being straightforward may be the best bet. 

"I need to sleep. I'm just done. I just want to sleep."

"Okay, Phil." I said, rubbing his shoulder comfortingly before getting up to leave. 

"Wait... (y/n)?" 

"Yeah?"

"Will you stay here until I fall asleep?"

"Of course I will." I said, making my way to the foot of his bed and sitting there as he crawled under the duvet, nodding off into sleep.

"Thank you, (y/n)." He said, only half awake. 

"You're welcome, Phil. Everything's going to be okay. Just give it time, okay?"

"Okay." He murmured into his pillow, and he sounded so young.

I looked over at him, smiling, and oblivious to the fact that Dan was stood in the doorway watching this, sharing the same smile.


	5. Chapter Five

After Phil fell asleep I got off the bed carefully, making sure not to move the mattress and disturb Phil. Once I was on the ground I made my way out of his room, deciding to leave the door open so if he called I would hear it. I began heading up to the guest/gaming room, but stopped after a few steps, deciding to check on Dan one last time before sleep to make sure his bandages were holding up and he didn't need anything.

I walked up to his door and knocked lightly. No answer. I knocked a little louder, and heard a panicked, "Just a second!" followed by some rapid movement on the other side of the door, and eventually Dan was opening it, a small flush to his cheeks, Tumblr pulled up on his laptop.

"Were you watching porn?" I teased, and he rolled his eyes. 

"What's up?" he asked, ignoring my question and I chuckled a bit, but then got more serious as I looked at the bandage on his forehead.

"How are you feeling? How are your cuts? I just wanted to check on you before I go to sleep, see if you needed anything." I explained, and he nodded.

"I'm actually feeling pretty good. I think everything's healing up well, I actually have a bunch of energy right now from resting so much I think. Can't sleep, but oh well, that's nothing new." he shrugged.

"Well I'm glad you're feeling better. How are you feeling... like..." I didn't know how to say this without sounding ridiculous so I just sighed and decided to say it outright. "Emotionally... with everything that happened. Are you doing okay?" 

Dan's face darkened a bit and I began to regret asking anything, but then he just sighed and shrugged, looking at the ground.

"It was terrifying. I'd be lying if I said it hasn't made me rethink what I'm doing for a career... if such a little thing could put my life in danger." I nodded, both surprised but understanding of his thought process. 

"And?" I asked, curious if he was still rethinking things.

"And then I remembered how many times I've heard that I've saved people's lives. How much I love what I do and how it's saved  _my_ life. How it's changed everything and nothing makes me happier, and... I don't know. I guess I'm willing to take the risk for the chance to get to do what I love." Dan said matter of factly, and I smiled.

"Yeah... some things are worth the risk." I said softly, and silence took over, both of us just standing there for a while.

"Um... do you want to come in?" Dan offered after a while, stepping back so I could enter his room. "We could watch some more of The Office or something."

I smiled and nodded, stepping in and waiting until Dan made himself comfortable in the bed and tapped the mattress beside him before climbing onto the bed myself, leaning back against the headboard. 

He opened up Netflix and turned on The Office, and we sat on the bed, illuminated only by the dim light of his laptop screen. 

After two episodes played, I turned to face Dan, curiosity taking over.

"Dan?"

"Yeah?"

"What were you doing when I knocked? You seemed... panicked." I tried to word it nicely, but winced a bit at how straightforward the question was.

"Um... I was actually watching one of your videos." he admitted, not making eye contact.

"Oh." was all I could think to say, still just somewhat amazed that Dan Howell had watched my videos.

"Yeah I was just thinking like... if we're gonna collab I should know a bit more about your style." he explained, and I nodded, smiling as I clicked on the next episode.

"Yeah that makes sense." 

We watched four more episodes and soon it was the middle of the night and Dan closed his laptop with a sigh. 

"I'm getting kinda tired, I think I might turn in for the night. You're welcome to-"

"Oh yeah I'll go back up to the guest room." I said at the same time as he began to offer something, and he looked up in surprise, then nodded, biting his lip nervously and not looking me in the eye.

"Oh... yeah. Yeah, I'll see you tomorrow morning." he mumbled, and I climbed out of the bed, unsure as to why there was so much sudden tension in the air.

"Sweet dreams, come get me or call me if you need anything." I said as I left, and he nodded.

"Yeah. I will. Night." 

 

* * *

 

 

The next morning Phil was already eating cereal in the lounge when I came downstairs, and Dan walked out from his room, the bandage on his head gone. I almost began to protest, before I saw that the wound had fully scabbed over and didn't look like it was in danger of opening up unless it was scratched. 

"Your head looks good." I commented, sitting down on the sofa.

"Well I've got compliments on my face before, but a full head compliment isn't quite as common. I guess that's a good thing?" He asked with a wink, and I sighed, throwing a pillow at him.

"You know what I meant! It's healing well." I clarified and he chuckled, tossing the pillow back. 

"So how are you guys feeling today?" I asked, and they both shrugged in unison, then laughed a bit at the synchronicity. 

"Pretty good." Phil said, at the same time as Dan's, 'Better'. 

"Well that's good. You think you guys are up for planning a video today to explain that I'll be here for a bit? We'll have to say something about it in the first video we do together, it should probably be all three of us." 

"Yeah, probably." they both said, once again completely synchronized and I raised by eyebrows.

"You two are too close for your own good." I chuckled, and they nodded in defeat, laughing.

"We know." they said in unison and I cracked up.

"Hey don't laugh at us, it's hard only having one friend in the world!" Dan protested, but he was laughing too, and soon we were all clutching our stomachs as we lost it. 

It took us four whole minutes to calm down, but finally we were breathing heavily, allowing the last few exhausted giggles to slip out as we calmed down.

"So... the video idea." Phil began, bringing us back to business. "What should we do?" Dan and I shrugged, and we all sat there for a moment, thinking. 

"I think we should do a competition of some sort." I suggested, and they both nodded, approving the idea, and I was happy that we were making progress. 

"Okay..." Dan agreed, trying to think of what sort of competition we could do. "How about never have I ever? I've done it with Tyler before, but it was just for Youtuber stalking questions, and Phil, we've never played that before." 

"Sure!" Phil agreed, and I nodded too.

"Alright, never have I ever it is, then! What should the winner get?" I asked.

"Winner gets to choose what we do for the next video and the other two  _have_ to do it?" Phil suggested, and both Dan and I winced, but then laughed and agreed.

"I'm scared but I'll do it." I giggled, and Dan nodded.

"What she said."

We all agreed that we'd film tomorrow - Dan's head wasn't going to be fully healed for a while and you could still see some scratches and bruises on Phil, so we knew we couldn't wait until they were completely gone to film, but we'd give a short explanation in the video along with explaining that I'd be living with them for a while, and the extra day before filming tomorrow would help Dan's cut heal a little more and for us to come up with plans for questions tomorrow.

The rest of the day was spent watching TV and eating soup that I made. It was alright, a bit watery but both Dan and Phil insisted it was delicious, to which I rolled by eyes but thanked them.

At the end of the night I said goodbye to the men, making sure they were feeling okay, then turning to head back to my room.

"Night! We film tomorrow!" Phil shouted dramatically and I giggled, shaking my head in wonder at how I'd gotten myself into this situation as I crawled into bed and turned out the light. 


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright guys... *rubs hands together* It's been a while since I've visited this fic, but I think it's time for a new chapter!  
> Honestly I started writing this when I was new to the phandom and VERY new to phanfiction. The first phanfic I read was an X-Reader fic so I decided to write one, but honestly I've kind of slowed down on this because over time it got a bit weird for me to write as I got deeper into the phandom. I don't like leaving things unfinished, though, so I'm gonna push that aside and continue this fic! (still will probably be slow updates since I'm in the middle of others, but just want to make sure you all know I haven't forgotten this and have found new inspiration for it) :)

I grinned devilishly, shuffling backwards on Dan's bed so the two men on either side of me couldn't read what was on my notecard, going over my notes for the game. "Are you two ready to lose?" I smirked, jerking the cards back quickly as Phil pouted and Dan reached out to try to snatch them from my grasp. "Too slow!" he rolled his eyes and I giggled, glad that both he and Phil were looking much better and seemed more energized than they had since I met them. 

"Alright, let's do this!" Phil chirped, and he leaned forward to hit 'record' as I stashed my notecards in my back pocket. 

The video started out as an announcement, letting everyone know the basics of what had happened and that I'd be at the 'phan phlat' as we called it, Dan making sure the audience knew it was 'flat' with a 'ph'. We were posting it on my channel so I introduced the boys, even though I knew everyone must already know them. I joked about how I had no clue how a tiny YouTuber like me could get a collab with Dan and Phil, and Dan chimed in to tell the audience that I was blackmailing them and they only agreed because I had their search histories. 

We didn't explain the kidnapping, just said that something had happened and it'd left them a bit beat up, but I'd helped them through it. Phil made sure the fans knew that the boys' audience  _owed_ it to me to subscribe and I giggled, brushing it off. 

We finally made it to the actual content, announcing that we'd be playing never have I ever. Dan wiggled his eyebrows at the camera suggestively as he told them to prepare to have their innocent idea of Phil to be tainted, to which Phil pouted and shook his head, promising that he hadn't done anything  _that_ bad. We each had five fingers up and once you dropped to zero you were out.

Dan was the one to start the game, looking between Phil and I and then rubbing his hands together while he looked at the camera. "Never have I ever... smoked a cigarette." Dan decided eventually. Phil groaned and rolled his eyes as he put a finger down, looking at the camera.

"You all know the story, it's not that bad! I don't smoke anymore, it was just once because I wanted to join a cool gang okay!" 

"Phil... that doesn't make it sound  _any_ better." Dan remarked with raised eyebrows and Phil scowled as I tried to hold in my laughter. 

"You've never smoked, (y/n)?" Dan asked and I shook my head with a smile. 

"Nope! Phil's turn!" 

"Okay... never have I ever... liked cheese!" 

"That's just unfair." I complained as both Dan and I put fingers down. "Okay. Never have I ever lived in the UK." 

"And you said mine was unfair!" Phil whined, rolling his eyes but laughing afterwards as he put his finger down. 

"Never have I ever been in a Chuck E Cheese's." Dan said nearly immediately. I shook my head with a grin, not putting a finger down as Phil put his down and stared openmouthed at Dan. 

"Dan! Yes you have! Remember, we went to one while we were on tour?" 

"Oh you've got to be fucking kidding me!" Dan half-shouted as he put a finger down, shaking his head. We all giggled at his mistake, and I bit my lip in thought. 

"Never have I ever had Ribena." I said after a moment and the boys sighed, both down to one finger now. 

"Never have I ever gotten fired for pressing the panic alarm!" Phil said with a grin, getting Dan out who rolled dramatically off the bed. I was concerned for a moment, immediately checking to make sure his cuts were okay, but everything seemed fine and he soon rejoined us on the bed, his bottom lip pushed out in a pout. "Alright, (y/n), you won." Phil sighed, putting his last finger down. I still had four left, and I was the clear winner. 

"Alright, well expect to see me collabing with these nerds a few more times - and now I get to choose the videos!" I said with a grin, both the boys cringing dramatically as if I was going to make them do something awful. "My next few videos will probably be here since it looks like I'll be staying in London for a bit, so I'll see you soon! Check out Dan and Phil's channels, and I'll see you all soon with another video from the phan phlat!" I winked dramatically at the camera and then leaned forward to turn it off as the boys said their goodbyes. 

"You think that was good?" I asked, still giggling slightly, but nervousness starting to set in at the idea of actually uploading a collab with  _Dan and Phil._

"Yeah, they're gonna love it." Dan promised, and Phil nodded in agreement. 

"Okay. Let's eat some dinner before jumping into editing?"

"Yes! This calls for celebration! We're getting pizza I don't care what you say." Dan decided, pulling out his phone. Phil and I laughed, and soon there was a pizza order on its way and we were setting up another Office episode in the lounge. 

"Thank you guys for filming with me." I murmured quietly, suddenly feeling strangely shy. 

"Of course, (y/n)! You saved our lives, it's the least we could do." Phil said nonchalantly as he settled in across the couch, Dan taking the spot in the middle. 

"I know, but you're not obligated to do anything in return. So... thank you."

"Shut up I can't take this sappy shit or I'm gonna start crying and no one wants to see that." Dan said gruffly as he settled in, laughing softly and shooting me a glance that clearly said ' _you're welcome, I'm just not gonna say it out loud_ '. I smiled back and he nudged my upper arm with his elbow before leaning against the backrest. 

The pizza came after the first episode and Phil got up to pay the pizza guy. 

I looked over to Dan, sighing now that the room was filled with silence since we'd paused the show. He looked like he was thinking hard about something and I frowned, trying to read his face.

"You're not leaving anytime soon... are you?" he asked after a few seconds of silence, turning to me with such a pleading expression I couldn't help but want to just wrap him up in my arms and promise I'd stay forever. 

"I... not unless you want me to leave." I stuttered, surprised at how desperately he seemed to want me to stay. "I mean... I've actually thought about moving to London before, so it's kind of nice to spend some time here."

"Yes!" Dan suddenly grinned, latching onto the idea. "That can be it! You can stay here and test out London... get a sense of what it's like to live here. You can stay here as long as you want... we really love having you." 

I blushed, surprised by his sudden enthusiasm. "Don't you think the fans will find it a little strange?" I asked after a few moments, no part of me wanting to leave anytime soon, but knowing there was no  _real_ reason for me to stay now that they were healed. 

"Who cares? We'll tell them about how you're thinking of moving here, and wanting to test out the country! They can theorize and pick it apart all they want... if you want to stay here please don't let that stop you." 

I paused for a few moments, chewing on what Dan had just offered me. It wasn't like I had anything keeping me at home - I wasn't close to my family, I wasn't in school, and my job was done home alone and could be done just as easily here - if not more since I'd have people readily nearby to help and better equipment to borrow. 

"I want to ask Phil... to make sure it's okay." I settled on eventually, biting my lip as I felt shivers run up and down my spine at the thought of being invited to stay here for an actual chunk of time rather than the few days I had expected. 

"Of course." Dan responded immediately, his dimples caving deep in his cheeks as he smiled. "I mean I know his answer already... but I understand." 

Smiling shyly I nodded, looking down at my hands as I played with my fingers. 

Phil returned moments later with the pizzas and Dan and I immediately snapped our heads up, distracted by the arrival of food. 

We all hungrily dug in, but after a few moments the subject was brought back up.

"Phil... what do you think of (y/n) staying here for a while?" Dan asked, glancing over at me.

"Isn't that the plan already?" Phil wondered in confusion, a small strand of pizza cheese hanging out of his mouth. 

"Yeah but I mean like. A  _while_ while. She's thinking of moving to London so I told her as long as it's okay with you she could stay with us as long as she wanted to get used to the country."

"Of course! (y/n) you can stay as long as you want! Move in if you'd like, we love having you here!" My eyes widened at Phil's nonchalant offer as he bit back into his pizza, seemingly completely unfazed by the huge change to his lifestyle that was being suggested. 

"Okay." I responded eventually, taking a hesitant bite of my own piece. "I did already extend my visa... I'm able to stay here for at least two months... after that we can see."

Dan made a little noise of excitement, clapping his hands together. 

"Alright! Now that that's settled, let's watch!" grinning, he hit play and leaned back against the couch. I shivered as I felt his shoulder brush against my own, but I didn't pull away. I didn't know if it'd been intentional or not, but the warmth radiating out from him was comforting and I smiled, relaxing into the show in the apartment I would be in for at least a while.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Reminder, (yyn) means your youtube name. Also (ysn) means 'your ship name' (with Dan)

Waking up, my eyes blinked lazily, blurry forms beginning to take shape in front of them as my brain recognized that I was awake. 

The first thing I noticed was that my neck hurt on one side. Badly. I was also sitting up, so I closed my eyes and squeezed them tight, trying to ward off the headache I was becoming aware of as I moved to lay down, unsure of why I'd fallen asleep upright.

When I felt a hand come and rest gently on my side after I'd adjusted, my eyes opened confusedly, taking in my surroundings in more detail. 

I was in the lounge. Why was I in the lounge? Had I not made it back to my room last night? My eyes surveyed the room and then looked down at the lumpy pillow I was resting my head on. Eyes widening rapidly, I realized that this wasn't a pillow, it was a pair of legs. Wincing as my head pounded and my neck ached, I sat upright, the hand delicately leaving my side as if it'd never been there in the first place. I blinked slowly as I looked at a tired and baggy-eyed Dan Howell, who was giving me a small smile as I stared at him in confusion. 

"I didn't go to bed last night." I observed out loud, voice crackly from sleep.

"No... you fell asleep while we were watching TV, so Phil just worked a bit on editing the video and went to sleep. You uh... you fell asleep on my shoulder and I didn't want to wake you, so I was just gonna let you sleep for a while, but I guess I fell asleep too." he rubbed his eyes and shook his head rapidly in an attempt to wake up. "I'm gonna make some coffee. You want any?"

"Yeah, thanks. Maybe some aspirin too if you have any? My neck is killing me." I mumbled, and he nodded as he got up.

"Sorry."

"It's not your fault." I responded, and when he shrugged as if to say ' _It kind of is_ ', I just shook my head and smiled. 

Dan left the room and I sighed, pulling my phone out of where it rested in my back pocket. I raised my eyebrows when I saw a new text from Phil. 

**PHIL: Got the basics of editing done - all the stuff I know you already know how to do. Dan and I can help you with more fancy tricks when you're awake... sleep well ;)**

My eyebrows raised even farther at the little winky face tacked onto the end of the text. Could it have been a mistake? An accidental semicolon instead of a colon. I'd done that many times, and it always made for hilarious mistakes. That must have been all it was. I closed the messenger app on my phone and opened up Twitter. Immediately I was shocked at the amount of messages and posts addressed to me. I frowned and skimmed through a few - quickly realizing they were all relating to Dan somehow. 

Finally I found a post that actually had an attachment, and my eyes widened as I saw a tweet posted by Dan eight hours ago.

**_Daniel Howell: Sometimes I wonder if my existence is meaningless in this world. Then I remember... at least the lump that is Dan can be a pillow?_ **

Underneath was a bad-quality, poorly lit photo of me, sound asleep with my mouth open and face smushed, pressed firmly into Dan's shoulder as he raised one hand as if helplessly shrugging, looking at the camera with one eyebrow raised. 

My initial thought was a simple  _Damn you, Howell, posting such a bad picture of me_ , but almost immediately my thoughts turned to panic as I quickly scrolled down into the comments. 

Sure enough, it was a shitstorm.

_**#phandivorceconfirmed** _

_**#phanisover** _

 

**_@danielhowell how could you do this to phil?_ **

**_@amazingphil your boyfriend is cheating on you_ **

**_@danielhowell why would you do this?_ **

**_@danielhowell, @amazingphil MY DREAMS ARE CRUSHED_ **

**_@(yyn) what the hell, (yn)?! Are you trying to break up my OTP?!_ **

**_@(yyn) get out, no one wants you here_ **

**_@(yyn) what the hell are you doing with danisnotonfire?!_ **

The comments continued, and it was immediately apparent that the phandom was  _livid._

"Dan?" I asked hesitantly, standing up while still scrolling through comments and walking into the kitchen slowly.

"What?"

"Why did you post that picture last night?"

"What picture?" Dan seemed genuinely confused as he walked over and took my phone, looking at the post. His eyes widened and then he handed the phone back, burying his face in his palms.

"Oh my god I completely forgot. What the hell was I thinking, we haven't even posted the video together, no one even knows you're here!"

I bit my lip, turning off my phone and returning it to my pocket. 

"Yeah... it's too late now, though. We just have to make sure to upload it as soon as possible to give them an explanation of why I'm here." Dan nodded, then slowly peeked out from between two fingers.

"What are they saying?" he asked in a voice that made it clear he already new.

"It's... not great." I responded carefully. "They definitely think it's something that it wasn't."

Dan groaned into his hands, closing the little gap he'd been peering through and leaning against the counter in dismay. "Well... just another 'reasons why Dan's a fail' for you. I can't believe I did that..." he mumbled through his hands and I sighed, nodding.

"I'm gonna tweet something... try to do a bit of damage control and let them know to expect a video soon... then we can get Phil and finish it up, okay?" 

Dan nodded into his hands and I sighed, pulling my phone back out and taking a seat at the dining room table. I wrote and rewrote a string of tweets about twenty times until I was satisfied. 

**_Well, because of SOMEONE *cough* @danielhowell *cough* tweeting without thinking, you probably already know, but... I met Dan and Phil!_ **

**_A video will be coming soon where more will be explained. Also please block Dan for posting that horrible pic of me *cringes to hell*_ **

I bit my lip and posted it, then shut off my phone immediately, refusing to get sucked into the drama that would be the flood of responses I was sure to get, and went to find Phil.

* * *

"Aaaaaand posted!" Phil announced with a grin. I gave the best smile I could muster, and Dan didn't even bother to try. 

"Aww lighten up, guys. They'll get over it. And honestly... once they see this video, phan will be forgotten! It'll be (ysn) all the way!" 

I rolled my eyes and shook my head, laughing a bit at Phil as I heard Dan groan next to me and turned my head to see him plop his face into his arms on the desk, catching just a glimpse of a blush before his cheeks disappeared as they pressed to his baggy sweater. 

I pulled out my phone and tweeted the video, careful not to look at ANY of my notifications, as Phil tweeted it as well, directing all his and Dan's followers to the video on my channel. 

Silence overtook the room for a while, and finally Phil sighed and stood up, putting his hands on his hips. "Alright, I'm not letting you two mope around like this all day. We're playing a game." 

"What game?" I asked him and he shrugged, beginning to walk out to the lounge.

"I dunno! Let's go see what we have!" 

He left the room and I got up slowly, straightening my shirt. "You coming?" I asked the unmoving lump that was still sprawled across the table. 

"Yeah... I'm sorry (yn)." he mumbled, and my eyebrows pulled together in confusion.

"What do you mean you're sorry?"

"Well I mean... any girl that's ever seen with us gets hate thrown at her, and now I went and pulled an idiotic stunt like that tweet last night..." 

"Dan." I cut him off, walking over and tugging gently on his arm to get him to move them and sit up to look at me, which he did reluctantly. "I don't care at all about that. I don't care what a bunch of people online say - I'm just sorry that it's gonna be so dramatic for you guys because of your fans and the whole... ship thing." 

"Well I don't care about that." he said quickly, and a small smile tickled my lips.

"So then why are we moping around? Let's go play a game with Phil and have fun... if neither of us cares, then let's just... not care." Dan seemed to think over this for a minute before giving me a small smile and nodding, standing up. 

"Just so long as you're sure that you're okay with all of this." 

"I mean, it's not like I have much of a choice. But really... I don't mind a few hate comments." He still seemed unsure for a moment, but then nodded and took a deep breath. 

"Alright then... let's go play a game."

* * *

"Sorrrryyyyyyy!" Dan teased, knocking my piece off the board and giving me a wide grin. 

"You little shit!" I responded with a giggle, picking the discarded piece of plastic up and throwing it at his head. 

"Hey! I said I was sorry!" 

"I hate you." I tried my best to glower at him, but soon I was laughing just as hard as he was, doubling over with tears in our eyes over the board game, "SORRY!"

"You two are ridiculous." Phil murmured with a smile, shaking his head as he drew a card for his turn. 

"I don't know what you're talking about, we're completely serious!" I nearly shouted with laughter, straightening my spine and trying to look as professional as possible. Dan copied me and we both looked to each other, trying to hold in our laughter, but losing it just seconds later and breaking into giggles once more.

"Seriously perfect for each other." 

I barely made out the fond, quietly murmured words, and my giggles slowed a bit as my cheeks flushed and eyebrows raised high on my face, ready to defend myself.

"What'd you say?" Dan asked, still laughing hysterically, clearly not having heard Phil's comment. I looked up at met Phil's eyes. He gave me a little smirk and a shrug, and my face heated up even more as my laughter died altogether and I looked to the board intently. 

* * *

After the game when Dan left for the kitchen, insisting he'd make us all lunch before we sat down to look at how the video was doing, I found myself alone in the lounge with Phil. 

"Uh... Phil?" I practically whispered, getting the black haired man's attention.

"Yeah, y/n?"

"Um... what did you mean before. About... you know uh... me and Dan?"

"Dan and I..." he corrected with a little chuckle and I rolled my eyes, throwing a pillow at him.

"You know what I meant."

"And I think you know what I meant." he responded with a smile, and my cheeks flushed once more as I looked down to my hands. 

"I uh... I don't think... it's not like that." I mumbled, awkwardly twisting my fingers with each other. 

"Whatever you say." Phil was clearly holding back laughter and I threw another pillow which he just barely dodged. "Okay well if you don't like him that's fine, but I'd bet my whole channel that he fancies you."

My mind began whirring as I picked at my fingernails, eyes wide. Could Dan Howell really like  _me?_ Why? How? No... it was impossible. He was... he was  _him_. And I was... just me.

"I think you're wrong." I said softly and Phil shook his head, his eyes soft. 

"I don't think so. I've known Dan for a long time... but I guess we'll just have to wait and see." 

I nodded, raising a hand up to begin biting at my nails. "Do... do you really think he does?" I asked in a small voice, and Phil smiled warmly.

"Yeah... yeah, I do."

"Alright kiddos, time for food!" Dan announced as he waltzed in, precariously balancing three bowls of spaghetti in his arms. "One for you!" Dan handed a bowl to Phil with a smile. "One for me." he turned and put another bowl on the coffee table. "Aaand...." Dan began looking around, confused. "Wait why did I make three? Oh, I suppose I'll just have to eat two bowls!" Dan said with a grin, raising a forkful of noodles to his mouth before I snatched the bowl away.

"Oh, no you don't!" I giggled, and Dan grinned at me, his dimples caving deep as he plopped down on the couch and picked up his bowl, flicking on the episode of the Office I must have fallen asleep during the night before. It didn't pass by me how Dan sat close enough that our thighs pressed together, and our shoulders bumped. I flicked my gaze over to Phil who gave me a knowing smile before turning back to the TV. 

Shit.

 

 


End file.
